Maria: "It feels really great. Honestly I was having a really tough end of the year last year. Not a lot of people know about it, but it was very frustrating because tournament after tournament I’d be working hard, I’d be trying to get back in shape, playing tennis, and all of a sudden my injury would kind of bring me down again. It was really tough. "These kinds of tournaments they mean a lot to me, they give me more confidence because I’ve known I’ve put in the hard work. I guess you just never know when the hard work will pay off. I guess just trying to stay positive always helps. You know, it’s definitely good to see that it did pay off today."

Maria over haar komende tegenstander: I played Groenefeld last time in Moscow, very weird match. Unfortunately, she sprained her ankle. It will be a totally different match tomorrow. I was worried a lot about my injury in Moscow. I’m feeling a lot better about it this year. So hopefully, you know… She’s a great player. She serves really big. That’s one of her biggest strengths. I want to make sure I serve well and try to put pressure on her serve. De wedstrijd wordt woensdag 15 maart gespeeld en opnieuw speelt Maria ’s avonds op het center court. Aanvang na 07.00 PM ( Pacific time )

Lindsay Davenport, an eight-time Pacific Life Open champion; Maria Sharapova, a former Wimbledon champion; and Justine Henin-Hardenne, the defending French Open champion, have all committed to the Pacific Life Open, to be held March 6-19, 2006, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. These are just a few of the women’s tennis stars that will compete in the most-attended non-Grand Slam tennis tournament in the world.